Melbourne

As promised, here are a few photos of The Nunnery. It's a pretty unassuming building from the outside:

This is the view at reception. Notice the large Virgin Mary statue.

And the stained glass windows.

This is the Lounge with more Mary artwork on the walls.

And the cat, Brother Francis.

Kind of a fun place to stay. :)

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On Monday (10-20-08), I took a tour out to Phillip Island, which is about 140 km or 87 miles from Melbourne. More about Phillip Island in a moment. Along the way we made several other stops, including a stop at a winery. I was one of two who didn't imbibe but the scenery was still well worth the stop.

Ok, this photo is mostly for my mom, who I think will appreciate this. The winery had these great tables - the tops were this beautiful wood and the bottoms were antique Singer sewing machine stands. They actually looked really neat.

After the winery, we visited Maru Wildlife Park, where we got to interact with native Australian wildlife. This was a really great park! Here are some of my favorite photos.

The wombat named Wilma:

The Kangaroos:

I'm holding the bowl of food behind my back. The smart roo on the right has just figured this out. It was only moments later, in an attempt to get at the whole bowl, that he jumped right at me! Luckily he's not very big - though jumping means level with my head!

"Feed me"! Notice this mamma roos albino joey.

Emus:

Dingos:

Koalas:

The previous two stops were on the Australian mainland. Our next stop, Phillip Island, is located just off the mainland in the Bass Strait, the sea that separates Tasmania from mainland Australia. There is a bridge that connects Phillip Island with the mainland.

Phillip Island is beautiful! With about 7,500 permanent residents, it is mostly a holiday island and tourist attraction because of it's beauty and exciting wildlife, as well as motocross sports. The island attracts nearly 3.5 million tourists every year. The main draw: Fairy or Little Penguins. This is one of the few places that the worlds smallest penguins can be seen. They are about 30 cm or 12 inches in height, and their breeding grounds are located on Phillip Island. They are blue and white in color.

Little penguins live in large colonies and are monogamous. Mom and dad take turns watching the eggs while the other goes out to sea to feed. The little guys may be gone for several days at a time but will return to relieve their partner and take their turn with the eggs. They only return to their colonies just after the sun sets; they come ashore in small groups to provide some protection from predators. It's here, at Phillip Island, that a viewing area has been set up to allow tourists the chance to view the nightly "penguin parade". This is a photo I took of the viewing area and beach while the sun was still up. Once the sun begins to set and the penguins come ashore, photos are not allowed.

Here are a couple of photos I copied off of Wikipedia so that you could see what the little guys look like. These are not from Phillip Island but from zoos.

One other stop we made on Phillip Island - before the Penguin Parade actually, was The Nobbies. Here we were able to view nesting sea gulls, and even spied a few burrowing penguins. The scenery here was spectacular.

Some of my new friends from the tour. 3 Irish, 2 Brits, 2 Canadians, 1 Welsh, 1 Yank (me).

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Tuesday (10-21-08) morning, found me taking a train out to Melbourne's suburb of Richmond to visit Sonia's step-daughter, Alison Kelly, who owns a gallery of Aboriginal Art. I must admit, that initially this was a field trip that I felt obligated to take and wasn't really very excited about. However, my reluctance soon gave way to excitement and gratitude. Alison was extremely kind and gracious, and her gallery was beautiful and very impressive! I spent over an hour with her and her work associate learning all about Aboriginal art: the symbolism, the art mediums, the culture, and the people who produce these beautiful works of art! I learned so much! And felt that my time was extremely well spent.

Once back in Melbourne's city center, I visited/toured Victoria's Parliament building.

Then spent the day exploring more of Melbourne's sites. Here a few photos of/from the city.

Melbourne is located on the bank of the Yarra River.

Federation Square is a cultural precinct in the city. It comprises a series of buildings containing a public broadcaster, art galleries, a museum, cinemas, exhibition spaces, auditoriums, restaurants, bars and shops around two major public spaces, one covered, the other open to the sky.

The Flinders Street Station is the central railway station. Each weekday, over 110,000 commuters and 1,500 trains pass through the station.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is the largest stadium in Australia holding well over 100,000 people. It was the centrepiece stadium of the 1956 Olympics and is one of the most famous cricket venues. It is referred to within Australia as the "Spiritual Home of Australian Sport".

Old and new buildings, along with Trolley's that move through Melbourne's streets. *******************************************************************

Wednesday (10-22-08), I made a quick trip to the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens, and the Melbourne Museum before catching my plane back to Sydney. At the museum, one of the key attractions is Phar Lap, a race horse that won the Melbourne Cup during the depression era. He became a much loved national icon in Australia giving many Aussies hope during a difficult time. He died of mysterious circumstances in 1932 (while in the U.S.) - many believed he had been deliberately poisoned. When news of Phar Laps death reached Australia thousands grieved. Several books and films have been written about the horse, Australian students grow up learning about Phar Lap in school, and the horse is featured in the Australian citizenship test.
I'd have loved a few more days in Melbourne. I feel like I only got a small taste of what the city has to offer. It IS very different from Sydney. Much more European, slightly grungier, colder and windier, but full of great restaurants, impressive cultural venues, and beautiful historic buildings. Several people have asked me which city I prefer, but that is such a hard question to answer - I had two whole months in Sydney and the city really became one of "my" cities. I know it so well (in fact I found myself giving directions in Sydney to other Australians, from Melbourne, upon my return from this trip), whereas I only had about 3 1/2 days in Melbourne. I love Sydney for it's beauty and beaches and sun, but I have a feeling that if I'd had more time in Melbourne I might like it more for it's culture and history. But then again, why choose! Both cities are amazing! And I'm so grateful I was able to spend time in both!